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August 31, 2007

Musical historians David and Ginger Hildebrand perform 18th-century folk music concert at the Museums of Colonial Williamsburg

Although Thomas Jefferson and other 18th-century residents played formal baroque music by Handel and various Italian composers, most of what was heard around Williamsburg was folk music.

At 2 and 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22, musicians and musical historians David and Ginger Hildebrand present a lively musical program celebrating the rich legacy of ballads, folk songs, dance tunes and march tunes which many learned by ear and played with little or no training. Performed with appropriate period instruments, commentary between selections will set the scene and illuminate the musical folk culture of 18th-century America.

The Hildebrands present concerts and educational programs throughout the United States for museums, historical societies and sites, as well as at universities. They appear frequently at Colonial Williamsburg and Mount Vernon. Their music is featured on movies and television documentaries, including the PBS series “Liberty! The American Revolution,” “Rediscovering George Washington” and the C-SPAN Series “American Presidents.”

They have made several recordings including: “Music in the Life of Benjamin Franklin”; “George Washington: Music for the First President”; “Over the Hills and Far Away, Being a Collection of Music from 18th-century Annapolis”; and “Music from the Charles Carroll Family, 1785-1832.” Recordings are available in the Museum Store.

The program is included in museum admission. For more information and reservations, call 1-800-HISTORY.

The Museums of Colonial Williamsburg include the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and are located at 325 W. Francis St. Admission is included in any Colonial Williamsburg admission ticket or by separate museums ticket. For information call (757) 220-7724.

Established in 1926, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is the not-for-profit educational institution that preserves and operates the restored 18th-century Revolutionary capital of Virginia as a town-sized living history museum, telling the inspirational stories of our nation’s founding men and women. Within the restored and reconstructed buildings, historic interpreters, attired as colonial men and women from slaves to shopkeepers to soldiers, relate stories of colonial Virginia society and culture — stories of our journey to become Americans – while historic tradespeople research, demonstrate and preserve the 18th-century world of work and industry. As Colonial Williamsburg interprets life in the time of the American Revolution for its guests, it also invites them to interact with history. Williamsburg is located 150 miles south of Washington, D.C., off Interstate 64. For more information or reservations, call toll-free 1-800-HISTORY or visit Colonial Williamsburg on the Internet at www.ColonialWilliamsburg.com.